Arabian FC
Arabian FC is a Brunanter football club based in Arabian Quarter of Koningstad. It is a member of the AFC and its home stadium is the SD Bank-Center. Its coach is Dennis van Aggelen and is owned by the shipping magnate Andreas Hansen. Arabian FC is known for its fine youth academy, having produced players like Dennis van Aggelen, Ibra El-Zein and Hamad Abdullah. History Early years Arabian FC was founded in 1970 by various Arab-Brunanters. Although initially an amateur team, it got much support from the city's (and the country's) Middle-Eastern population. The Lebanese-Brunanter striker Majed Atwa was without a doubt the most significant player of the team's early steps. The club became professional in 1975 and was one of the best teams in the 2. Liga of AFC, as they lost promotion several times by little. The team's popularity increased a lot, mainly due to the performance of today iconic players, like Faysal Abujamal and Hamid El-Zein. Arabian FC was promoted to the First League in 1980. However, it struggled not to demote, even though Hamid El-Zein was at his best.He was the first scorer of 1. Liga in 1981, third in 1982 and 1983, and second in 1984 In 1986, the known football fan Erik HansenFather of Andreas Hansen, current chairman of the team bought the team and seeked to sign a few talented Brunanter players, most notably, Willem Bergher. On the same time, though, he paid much attention to the team's youth academy. Golden Age Soon enough, the team acquired prominent players, including Jokim Spino from FC Taurus Niesburg and Rorie Studwick from Kilmarnock FC, while the academy offered talented youngsters, such as Dennis van Aggelen and Khalil Bandak. In 1990, Hansen brought the Argentine winger Arsenio de la Fuente, who made an excellent duo with van Aggelen, already considered the team's natural leader. The two of them are credited for the Arabian's spectacular football style during the 90's. The team team did quite well in the Championship and was the runner-up in 1996. Under the instructions of incredibly popular Patricio Rannauro, Arabian FC team won its first Johan II Cup in 1997, after an impressive season. The team's Golden Era, was ended abruptly, as Arsenio de la Fuente returned to his country in 1999 and many other important playersIncluding Jokim Spino and Khalil Bandak left the team shortly after. Van Aggelen retired in 2002, ending a career of 18 years. Recent years A handful of young players arrived in the team during the early 00's, such as Ibra El-Zein, Hamid Asma, Alfred Kiessling and Hamad Abdullah, but the 2003-04 season was a disaster. In the next season however, the team recovered and won its second Johan II Cup, coached by Faysal Abujamal. The coming of Juan Elvira in 2010 brought hope for better results in the championship. Anyway, Arabian FC has once again found an effective scorer, in the face of Mark Olsen. In 2013, the team won its third Johan II Cup, after beating Charlestown FC 3-2 in the final. Arabian finished sixth in the league, just short of qualifying for the Leaders League. Arabian is starting the 2013-14 season with an influx of experienced players in order to improve their standing in the league. The club were able to finish an impressive fifth place, ahead of such teams as Dortmund SFC and FC Kings. In the 2014-15 First League, the team started out well but several losses have kept them at 11th place. Despite this they have marked a few huge wins and forward Ibrahim Ghrabi is one of the top 10 league scorers. For 2015 the club will introduce a new logo for their 45th anniversary (and 40th as a professional club), which is inspired by their vintage 1970 logo. The club managed their first First League title in the 2015-16 season, ahead of Mediterranean FC by 2 points. Club culture Arabian FC has a long-standing rivalry with Helmond Real Sport Club, since the team's 2. Liga years. The fans have developed a recent but intense dislike of Charlestown FC, after the latter lured top player Hamid Asma with a lucrative contract to join them. A distinctive feature of the Arabian FC fans is the players' nicknaming; all the great footballers that have played for the team, have their own fanciful nickname, referring either to his descent or an attribute of him. For example, Rorie Studwick was called "the Highlander", due to the fact he is Scottish, while Faysal Abujamal is nicknamed "the Pharaoh", as both his parents were Egyptian. On the other hand, Alfred Kiessling is known as "the Colonel", due to his leadership. The team's ultra-group, known as "Fedayeen", support the team in each match. They have a strong relationship with KV Mechelen, sharing the same team colours. Recently, the Fedayeen have been linked with Ultras Ahlawy, a group supporting the successful Egyptian team Al-Ahly. Since roughly the millennium change, Arabian FC has had an informal partnership with Traspesian club Imperial Aegyptus (which has similar Arabian origins), with players transferring between the two clubs fairly frequently. They also have a similar partnership with the Libertan club FC Molenbeek, another club with Arabian origins. Club kits Arabian FC home shirt.PNG|2015-16 home shirt Arabian FC away shirt.PNG|2015-16 away shirt Squad | width="1%"| | bgcolor="#ffffff" valign="top" width="48%"| |} Notable former players See List of Arabian FC players for a full list. * Hamid El-Zein (1970-1987) * Jokim Spino (1990-1997) * Arsenio de la Fuente (1991-1999) * Dennis van Aggelen (1988-2002) * Ibra El-Zein (2002-2004) * Hamid Asma (2003-2008) * Michael Karabas (2004-2010) * Ahmed Abdulrashid (1998-2003, 2010-2014) * Ibrahim Ghrabi (2012-2015) * Hamad Abdullah (2001-2016) * Alfred Kiessling (1998-2006, 2007-2016) * Mark Olsen (2008-2018) Managers Managers in bold have won the First League and/or the Johan II Cup. Records Top goalscorers Bold players are still active with Arabian FC Italic players are still active with another team Most games Footnotes Category:Arabian FC Category:Football clubs Category:Arabian Quarter